202 Transactions. — Zoology. 



tinged with brown on the breast ; sides of the face yellowish- 

 white, with a conspicuous blackish-brown streak through the 

 eyes ; there is an obscure crescent-shaped mark of white 

 behind each wing, and another of a more rounded form 

 on each side of the croup. The tail consists of small feathers 

 with downy filaments. Bill brown ; under-mandible pale- 

 yellow ; legs yellowish. 



Ehynchaspis variegata, Gould. (New Zealand Shoveller.) 



Two partial albinoes of this species received from Lake 

 Ellesmere are very remarkable and beautiful objects. No. 1 

 differs from the ordinary bird by the absence of the white 

 cheek-mark, the head and neck being entirely black, with green 

 metallic reflections. The whole of the breast — front, sides, 

 and a narrow collar at the back— white, with scattered horse- 

 shoe markings of dull chestnut-brown, the white being boldly 

 defined against the black of the fore-neck, but on the lower 

 margin it melts insensibly into the chestnut-brown of the 

 sides and abdomen ; large upper wing-coverts white, with 

 broad crescentic bands of blackish-brown ; the scapulars with 

 a very broad stripe of white down the centre. 



No. 2 has a dark head and neck, with green metallic re- 

 flections, but differs from the other in having the whole of 

 the shoulders and scapulars pure white, there being only a 

 dividing-strip of the normal colour down the spine ; the long 

 scapulary plumes are pale-blue on their outer and white on 

 their inner vanes. The blue on the small wing-coverts pre- 

 sents a broad surface, and the angular patch of white between 

 that and the speculum is very conspicuous. The dark colour 

 of the head and neck is sharply defined against the white 

 plumage below it. There is a large patch of pure white on 

 each side of the croup, which has dark-green reflections ; and 

 the tail-feathers are greyish-white on their outer webs. 



Eudyptes vittatus, Finsch. (Thick-billed Penguin.) 



I obtained a specimen of this very rare Penguin at Stewart 

 Island at the end of February last. The bird landed of its 

 own accord in the little bay in which we were temporarily 

 residing, and came hopping up the steep garden-path to the 

 very door of the house, as if anxious to make the acquaintance 

 of a practical ornithologist. It passed bravely through a 

 group of tourists who were standing about, and snapped 

 savagely at those who attempted to arrest its progress. I 

 saw at a glance that it was not one of the common species, 

 and, receiving my visitor with every expression of delight, 

 speedily annexed him. Curiously enough, he allowed me to 

 stroke his head without resistance, and later on submitted to 

 be killed with the philosophy of a Penguin. 



